*Official* Australia in decline thread

[MrPerko]

How much longer do you think Australia will last at the top of the Test-rankings??

Australia has had a pretty good run over the last 10 years... - strangely enough, about the time Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath came along. So how much longer will the Aussies last and which country will topple them from their "World Champions" status??

 

[Sulphate]

which country will topple them from their "World Champions" status??

that will be england of course.

we deserve a time of beiing the best. we have been poo for 40 years

 

[scorpio]

I think it depends on how well the other teams play. I am thinking that the aussies have hit a peak.

Unless they find another Mcgraht and warne and a steve waugh they wont go any better than what they have done so far. THey need a good alrounder too..which i guess they dont have.

SO it all comes down to how long the other teams will take to catch up..

So far england is ahead in the rat race...

 

[Tim]

I wouldn't worry about them yet, but it will be interesting to see how they do when the Waugh's finally call it a day, well at test level anyway.

 

[luckyeddie]

Look at Australia over the last 40 years, and I don't think that they have ever fallen much below No 2 in the world (maybe 1965, when South Africa and West Indies were one and two IMHO).

As far as the break up of the current side is concerned, I will leave it to Alphonse Karr : "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose".

Haven't we got a smiley for 'smug'?

 

[The Argonaut]

There certainly isn't anyone rushing to challenge them is there. Australia went through the doldrums in the late 80s after Lillee, Marsh and Chappell retired. Will they go through it again when the Waughs, Warne and McGrath retires. Who knows?

I don't think they necessarily need an all rounder as they have been at the top so far without one. Shane Watson is good but can he take that next step.

If South Africa can rebuild they may challenge. India and Pakistan will have their days but need to improve their consistency. England may be strong in another 5-10 years once Rod Marsh's academy starts producing results.

 

[Top_Cat]

There certainly isn't anyone rushing to challenge them is there. Australia went through the doldrums in the late 80s after Lillee, Marsh and Chappell retired. Will they go through it again when the Waughs, Warne and McGrath retires. Who knows?

I highly doubt it. Australian cricket's structure has changed a heck of a lot since those days and attitudes have as well. I mean, sure there are the realy young new players coming up (Michael Clark, Watson, Hauritz, Doherty etc.) and this no different to the 80's.

However, look at who the more immediate replacements are; Damien Martyn has only cemented his place in the side recently, Simon Katich is touted as a possible Mark Waugh replacement, Darren Lehmann will probably slot in the number 4 or 5 spot and the openers have only been together for just over a year. Bichel is touted as a replacement, and Gilchrist replaced Healy.

So what's the connection? ALL of these players have years of hard cricket under their belt and have only really cemented their place (in the case of Hayden, Martyn etc.) recently. The point is that very few REALLY young players are cementing their place in the side. They only do so after playing for quite a few years.

The ultimate aim of this is that when long-standing players retire, you have their replacements already experienced at the top level so don't need a lag-time in which to find their feet because they're already there. I'm sure most of the newer players will be treated the same way.

So hopefully this WILL work as intended and produce not just talented players (the Academy does that) but those who have sufficient experience so that when their time comes, they can take advantage of it.

 

[Kiwi]

Aus has such a good selection of players that I'm sure they won't have too many problems when these guys retire. They may go down for a year or so while these players get some experience but I don't think they will ever be far from the mark.

 

[wahindiawah]

Aus have another 2 yrs to rule atmost.After that it will be India, say for another 5-6 yrs.

IN another 2 yrs, Indian batting will become the best with SEhwag/Jaffer/kaif/yuvraj getting experiance.The bowling with Khan/Nehra/Agarkar and Youhannan will be a real danger, all they need is experiance which they will get with time.Harbhajan will be a class off spinner than and Kartik will be another dangerous spinner.

IN TWO YRS, I reckon India will be a force!

 

[Anoop]

England, surely!!

 

[sean]

Aus have another 2 yrs to rule atmost.After that it will be India, say for another 5-6 yrs.

IN another 2 yrs, Indian batting will become the best with SEhwag/Jaffer/kaif/yuvraj getting experiance.The bowling with Khan/Nehra/Agarkar and Youhannan will be a real danger, all they need is experiance which they will get with time.Harbhajan will be a class off spinner than and Kartik will be another dangerous spinner.

IN TWO YRS, I reckon India will be a force!

Trust an Indian to say that ... but honestly, i dont know about Australias future. Michael Clarke is HUGELY over-rated, Shane Watson is a shocker (however he looks to have started his career like Steve Waugh did, so maybe .... ), however I think Australia has enourmous depth and will rule for another 10 years AT LEAST!

 

[luckyeddie]

India will continue to be a force at home only.

Personally I would like to see English counties being able to play more than one overseas player. The old chestnut about 'keeping young players out of the side' is a bit of a non-starter - look at how English football has improved (a bit) over the last 10 years, through the influx of highly skilled overseas players.

If the same happened in cricket (say allow 3, but they must all be from different countries), it would not only benefit the individual players concerned, but could give the counties a much-needed shot in the arm.

Then, a few Indian bowlers playing a few months in Australia, SA, England, West Indies etc would learn a bit about 'foreign' conditions.

Maybe.

 

[wahindiawah]

England dominating the game????
Yeah only if they stick to playing at home, otherwise give ur chivcks a chance!

 

[scorpio]

I never posted on sports.com much coz of the morons and racists. But this seems like a decent site.

So stop using sports.com jargon like chicks and other stupid words buddy..Just a friendly thought..

Every one is as intelligent as you are.

 

[Anil]

I think Australia will be the top team for some more years. Their main challengers are Pak and SA. SA has problems with team selection and composition and doesn't have really too many outstanding individual players other than Kallis or Pollock. However, I feel once they sort out their internal problems, they will pose a serious challenge to Australia. Pakistan in terms of talent matches Aus even now, but they are sadly lacking in terms of consistency(notwithstanding the recent one day series win). If they manage that, they can even usurp the top spot.

The other countries, I think will always have their moments under the sun, but don't have the either the talent or consistency or both to challenge the top teams over a prolonged period.

 

[luckyeddie]

In order to be the best, you have to learn from the best. That has been Australia for the last 20 years, certainly (with a few minor hiccups).
In the sixties and seventies, the West Indies reigned supreme, although the South Africa side of the late 1960's seemed to have the greatest balance of any team I have ever seen.

Could England become the best? Doubtful, but that shouldn't stop them from trying.

Pakistan? They certainly seem to have a pretty reasonable conveyor belt of fast bowlers, and I have always thought that a team of great bowlers will have the edge over a team of great batsmen.

India? See my previous comment about bowlers and Pakistan.

South Africa seem to be in a rebuilding process at present. Shaun Pollock is a magnificent bowler, and any attack which has the likes of Ntini and Kallis in it cannot be discounted. They have also (today) appointed Graeme Pollock as batting coach to the UCBSA, which is one of the more sensible appointments I have heard of recently.

West Indies? No.

Sri Lanka? No.

Canada?

Zimbabwe? No.

New Zealand? About the same chance as England. Bowling has depth, but not 'strength in depth'.

In short, Pakistan might, South Africa could, the rest... hmmmmm.

 

[jaspalsinghrana]

Eng got blasted by the Aussies, Pak got r@ped by the Ozoz, on the other hand it was only India that gave Aus the kicks!!

In two-three yrs, India will be right at the top of cricket world!

 

[scorpio]

Eng got blasted by the Aussies, Pak got r@ped by the Ozoz, on the other hand it was only India that gave Aus the kicks!!

In two-three yrs, India will be right at the top of cricket world!

lol..what are hinting here ?

lets see..

englang > india > aus >pak and SA

So shall we say england is the world champion.Dude what ever we might think we have not won a single series in 17 yrs. Infact we have won only 2 overseas tests outside subcontinent in the last 17 yrs.

So lets hope they atleast dont get whitewashed and put up a fight.

We got a good decent team...but mentally we lack discipline and strength. So hope fully we can put it together soon. But becoming the greatest in 2 or 3 yrs is a pipe dream. Coz we still dont have a single FAST bowler.

 

[luckyeddie]

You can take invididual occurrences and extrapolate what you want from them.

Using that logic, Sri Lanka should be world-beaters now because they scored 952/6 against India in 1997.

Doesn't work for me.

 

[jaspalsinghrana]

Lucky,
BUT SL didn't win that match!!

Not have a single fast bowler??? Khan,Nehra and Youhannan aren't good seamers i guess.U don't really have to have an express fast bowler in ur test squad to be the best.All India need is good experianced pacers, and i believe that in two yrs they will be right at the top.

I do think that with punjab players in the team (Yuvraj,Sehwag) & players like Kaif,Indian team will become mentally tougher, forget the past, India have a bright future :X